West Australian Orchid Types


orchid illustration 3

orchid illustration 3

Orchids are usually termed the aristocrats of plant life. The presence of over 130 species in Western Australia adds considerable interest to the study of her magnificent and world-famous flora.

The order or family Orchidaceae was originally defined by Haller in the 18th Century, its name being adapted from the root of Orchis, a well-known genus in the temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere. It belongs to the group of plants known as monocotyledons, which have seeds generating in a single lobe, and with few exceptions, parallel-veined leaves. The Orchidaceae family is a very large one, represented in the world by over 400 genera and many thousands of species, especially abundant in the Tropics, and rare in the Arctic regions.

West Australian orchids, which are practically all terrestrial, cannot be compared to some found in Brazil, the Malay States, India, and other tropical places, for size, vividness of colour, and bizarre marking. But their delicate tints, dainty fragility of form, the curious structure of many of the species, and their methods of fertilisation, constitute beauty that endears them to young and old, and characteristics that fascinate the botanist.

Pterostylis, an Australian genus well represented in Western Australia, was specially mentioned by Darwin on account of the curious construction of its flowers and interesting methods of fertilisation, in his book, “The Fertilisation of Orchids.”

WEST AUSTRALIAN TYPES OF ORCHID

West Australian orchids, excepting those of the northern tropical area, are all terrestrial; that is, they grow in the ground. In the northern regions of Western Australia epiphytical and other tropical orchids have been found. Specimens in the Government herbariums from the Kimberley district, include Eulophia venosa, Reichenbach fil; Cymbidium canaliculatum, R. Brown; and Dendrobium dicuphum, F. von Mueller. The humid atmosphere of the tropical area of Western Australia is more favourable to the growth, of epiphytes than the temperate regions of the southern portion of the State, where in the summer the rainfall is slight, and the moisture necessary for tree orchids dries out of the bark surrounding the trunks of forest trees.

With the exception of one species of Gastrodia and perhaps the recently discovered Rhizanthella, all West Australian orchids belong to the tribe Neottieae, in which the anther is erect or bent forward and persistent. Species of genera (including Gastrodia) belonging to the Arethuseae tribe have the anther lid-like, incumbent, and usually deciduous.

LOCALITIES

In the posts in this series, descriptions will be found of some of the terrestrial orchids native to Western Australia. Localities, with month of flowering, have in almost every instance, been appended to each detailed description. But attempt has not been made to define exactly either the range, situation or flowering period of the various species, as most of them are widely distributed and indifferent, apparently, to any particular class of soil. The majority of West Australian orchids thrive equally in forest glades, river beds or swampy places, in the vicinity of flooded flats, sandy soil or on granite mountain range or coastal limestone hills. Flowering times vary according to situation, sometimes extending over several months. The places and times given, however, serve as a guide for the collection of specially desired species.

Many orchids may be found upon the slopes of, or on flats adjacent to the Darling Range. Some varieties are fairly plentiful in and around Perth and suburbs on vacant virgin land, and in the vicinity of the upper reaches of Swan and Canning rivers.

West Australian Orchids Series

  1. West Australian Orchids
  2. Orchid Illustration 1 - Caladenia
  3. Orchid Illustration 2
  4. Orchid Illustration 3
  5. West Australian Orchid Types (This post)
  6. Naming and Classification of Orchids
  7. Structure, Fertilization and Reproduction of Orchids
  8. Collection of Orchids
  9. Glossary of Orchid Terms
  10. Caladenia
  11. Diuris
  12. Drakea
  13. Eriochilus
  14. Glossodia
  15. Leptoceras
  16. Lyperanthus
  17. Microtis
  18. Prasophyllum
  19. Pterostylis
  20. Thelymitra

Related posts:

  1. West Australian Orchids
  2. Orchid Illustration 2
  3. Orchid Illustration 3
  4. Orchid Illustration 1 – Caladenia
  5. Glossary of Orchid Terms


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